Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of monitoring fetal intracranial volume using three-dimensional ultrasound virtual organ computer-aided analysis (VOCAL) technology and to analyze normal fetal brain growth.
Methods: This multi-center prospective cross-sectional study included 821 pregnant women (18-40 gestational weeks) divided into 23 groups according to gestational week. We used transabdominal three-dimensional ultrasound VOCAL to monitor fetal intracranial volume; explore the correlation between intracranial volume and gestational age, biparietal diameter (BPD), and head circumference (HC); and analyze the proportion of brain weight to body weight.
Results: The intracranial volume of normal fetuses conformed to the normal distribution, gradually increased with gestational age, and was highly correlated with gestational age (r = 0.977), BPD (r = 0.975), and HC (r = 0.953; p < 0.001). The median percentage of brain weight (BW) to estimated fetal weight (EFW) was between 13% and 21%, and the BW/EFW ratio showed a significant downward trend in the third trimester. The VOCAL technology monitored the fetal intracranial volume with good repeatability.
Conclusions: VOCAL technology is feasible for monitoring the fetal intracranial volume, and the intracranial volume increases more than 10-times in the second and third trimesters.
Keywords: brain weight; fetal; intracranial volume; three-dimensional ultrasound.
© 2022 Wiley Periodicals LLC.